Tagged: 17th c.

I have recently published an article in which I analyze the heraldic information contained in a total of twenty-seven Spanish picaresque novels from the years 1554 to 1668. Faced with the fantastic novel of chivalry, the realistic setting of the picaresque allows a better approach to the daily heraldic practices in Spain during the Early Modern Age, as well as to the perception of the coat of arms. A...

The visit of Emperor Leopold I to Carniola and the County of Gorizia in the autumn of 1660 encouraged local aristocracy to modify their homes and embellish them with artworks. On his way from Ljubljana to Gorizia the emperor with his escort spent one night in Lanthieri villa at Vipava. To honour this visit and show his loyalty to the Emperor, Antonio Count Lanthieri decorated the ground floor ceiling...

From a note of Marcantonio Altieri, a significant representative of the upper classes of Rome around 1500, we know that the roman nobility in its palaces exposed the “antique insegne” of the relatives and family friends. Although, according to Altieri, this custom was already 200 years old, only few of these heraldic programs survived. These frescoes and ceilings originate entirely from the 16th and 17th centuries. The lecture would...

It is commonplace that princely ensigns armorial embodied dynastic continuity and rightful territorial possession. Either impressing elites in an exclusive palace setting or showered upon the masses by the ephemeral machinery of festive spectacle, they are usually considered plain instruments of worldly domination. However, their iconography was not always that uncomplicated. The Spanish Monarchy’s heraldic patrimony in particular consisted of various symbolic conventions, evoking a strenuous history of state...

The City of London has a long and illustrious relationship with heraldry, not least because it is home to the College of Arms, the heraldic authority for grants of arms in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Commonwealth Realms with the exception of Canada. However the connection between the City and heraldry is evident in many other ways. This article explores some of the ways in which heraldry continues...

The proposed paper tries to offer new perspectives on the turn from the Middle Ages to modern times by not focusing on given events, but by considering the imaginary and the way of thinking during these times. This does not mean to just emphasise the medieval roots of those events which are usually used to mark the turn of times and thus to show and judge medieval foundations of...

The collaborative blog Heraldica Nova is an initiative of the Dilthey-Project ‘Die Performanz der Wappen’ (University of Münster) which aims to study medieval and early modern heraldry from the perspective of cultural history. Read more ...